The High Prosecutors' Office today indicted retired Cabinet official Hu Peng-nien (胡鵬年) and businessman Cheng Ming-chia (鄭明嘉) for cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department to establish organizations in Taiwan.
The Taiwan High Court ruled to continue holding the two incommunicado, after they were first detained in late September last year.
The office after completing its investigation indicted the two for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) by developing organizations for China.
Photo: Yang Hsin-huei, Taipei Times
Prosecutors said they are recommending a heavier sentencing of at least 10 years in prison for Cheng, who has denied all wrongdoing, while seeking a lighter sentence for Hu, who has confessed to the crimes.
Cheng, who has long conducted business in China, previously held a key position in an organization affiliated with the CCP’s United Front Work Department, they said.
He was also a former non-voting attendee of the Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body of the CCP, they said.
To protect the interests of his businesses in China, Cheng recruited Hu, who had taken a teaching position in China in 2021, to receive instructions directly from CCP Taiwan-affairs personnel to recruit targets in Taiwan, they added.
Hu and Cheng allegedly attempted to recruit active and retired military personnel and political figures to obtain classified military information, they said.
Hu further targeted young political figures across party lines, seeking to obtain internal and confidential information from government agencies and representative bodies, the investigation found.
The case shows the CCP’s intelligence-gathering operations have expanded from military personnel to the next generation of politicians, with methods continuing to evolve, the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau said.
Prosecutors and investigators launched multiple search operations and summons beginning in September last year, detaining Hu and Cheng incommunicado.
Cheng and Hu repeatedly returned to Taiwan to develop their espionage network, contacting village chiefs, retired civil servants and defense contractors, the investigation found.
They arranged for those people to travel to China for vetting purposes and to be assigned tasks by the CCP, it found.
Although most of their recruitment attempts proved unsuccessful, they still posed a serious threat to national security, prosecutors said.
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